Edit a panorama | 2nd part

In this second part dedicated to panorama edition in Autopano Giga, we'll review all alignment tools (vertical and horizontal), of the new layer mask mode, the colors editor and finally, the HDR fusion. Let's go on...

Two important new features in this version 4.0! These new features are: the "mask mode with visualization of the limits of the mask" and the automatic correction of vignetting and/or gradient. More details below.

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Align the panorama

It often happens that the panorama isn't perfectly horizontal - while we want it to be -. To make it horizontal again, there are two tools: "Automatic alignment" and "Vertical lines tool".

Caution! the vertical lines tool (hence manual) is only available with rectilinear and spherical projections. If you need it with another projection, you have to skip to another compatible geometry, make your leveling and go back to the chosen geometry.

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Note! When the rendering is done from the main window, its functionality "align automatically" has been applied by default. If the result's not good, you need to align the panorama manually by clicking the second icon below.

It's very easy to use but before anything else, it's better to zoom a little in the image in order to place the vertical lines more accurately.

The zoom-in can also be done with the shortcuts CMD +/- or CRTL +/-.

Then, you just have to trace two or three lines along subjects in the panorama we want to be straight in the final rendering or we know they're straight in real life.

The blue vertical lines are aligned with the vertical edges of the buildings.

Confirm by clicking the green button in the information column, on the left, or even by simply pressing Enter on your keyboard. Your panorama straightens almost instantly.

Particular case: the sea in the distance!

If you're shooting a landscape where there are no vertical landmarks easily recognizable for you and the software, we'll use the same vertical lines tool but slightly differently. This time, it's the yellow line perpendicular to the blue line that we'll align with the skyline, at least at two places in the panorama then confirm!

The yellow lines follow the skyline exactly in order to straighten it. (I didn't have photos of the sea at hand!).

The "Layer mask" mode - APG only - Updated mars 2015

A new functionality, very powerful, has appeared in Autopano Giga 3.0: the layer mask mode. It is now possible to choose very easily what we want to keep and discard in the overlap zone. This way, if a car or a pedestrian is visible in one photo but not the next, we just have to use the layer mask to tell the software what we need to keep or not. Here is how it works:

The "Layer mask" mode

The "Mask" button allows to select a subject by simply clicking on it if we want to keep it or not in the final rendering in the overlap zone.

When you select the "Layer mask" tool in the menu bar below, the "Mask" tools open in the left column, the information palette column.
You can then either add a flag to keep a subject - GREEN flag - either add a flag to discard a subject - RED flag -. When all your flags are placed - possibly several per subject if it's wide, you can then confirm by clicking the "Confirm" button.

When I want to discard a pedestrian I click on it with a red flag and when I want to keep a moving subject, I click on it with a green flag. Don't forget to place flags in the two layers of the overlap zone!

You want to keep a subject in the overlap zone: you choose the green flag in the Mask palette then you strongly enlarge the photo before clicking the subject, quite simply.

You want to discard a subject in the overlap zone: you choose the red flag, enlarge the zone then click on the subject to discard. It is sometimes necessary to place several flags when the subject is wide.

Note! There's no need to make a selection by following the edges of the subject: one click is enough if it's small or a few clicks if it's bigger!

New feature in 4.0! Finally, note that by clicking the preview icon at the bottom left of the panorama (and not in the menu bar) it is now possible to display the limits of the cutting zones:

It is thus easy to know which zones of the images have been privileged by Autopano Giga.

Colors edition - Very important new feature in 4.0 and even improved in 4.2!

One very powerful functionality in Autopano is undoubtedly the possibility to harmonize the brightness and/or the colors of the photos of a panorama by offering the great possibility to edit, for each photo, the type of harmonization that will be performed. This great functionality is now even easier to use because it's visible in realtime thanks to the "Preview" functionality. To this mus be added the "Exposure fusion" functionality or said differently, the HDR functionality in Autopano Giga 4.0 that we'll see below, but especially the great new feature of this version 4.0: vignetting and/or gradient correction for each photo. Unbeatable!

Main new feature in Autopano 4.0 and 4.2 (according to me!): the automatic correction of vignetting and/or gradient in each photo. How did we do it before?!!!

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Open the color editor

You need to go into the toolbar and click the icon "Edit color anchors". It opens a new menu in the left column: "None (1)" hence without correction, "Auto (2)" for Dynamic normal range hence a normal contrast and finally "HDR" (3) (High Dynamic Range hence high image dynamic) or strong contrast.

Then you open the toolbar below:

If you click Auto (1) : the look of the image is modified more or less locally. The colors and luminosities harmonization is activated (depending on the options). This modification can be edited though, and it's a huge asset. We'll see it later...

If you click HDR (2) : the look of the image changes completely and becomes dark because it's an HDR image. Of course, it can all be edited in Photoshop for instance.

Edit color anchors

The main strength of Autopano Giga / Pro is the possibility to edit color anchors in luminosity, colors or even both at the same time. Let's see this now. When the harmonization automation is activated (Auto Mode), icons appear on each image of the panorama in the panorama editor.
Then, you'll see an icon appear in each individual image. Each icon has a correction value. Let's see this now...

Each anchor can take a different correction value. Here, the photo is harmonized in luminosity, contrast and color relatively, as always, to the yellow reference anchor, on the right.

Color anchors

The reference anchor is yellow. You need at least one but you can have several. It's relatively to them that the harmonization will be performed. The photo in itself doesn't change.

The contrast anchor only harmonizes the contrast of the photo. The black and white thresholds are not modified. The photo is more or less brightened.

The luminosity anchor allows to tighten black and white thresholds of the photo as in Photoshop. The overall luminosity of the photo isn't changed.

The luminosity/contrast anchor modifies the photo or each selected photo with this contrast and luminosity anchor at the same time.

The luminosity/color anchor modifies the luminosity of one or several photos (black and white thresholds) and the color (white balance) at the same time.

The contrast/color anchor modifies one or several photos marked with this color and contrast anchor hence the overall luminosity of the photo.

The luminosity/contrast/color anchor modifies all the parameters of color, contrast and luminosity at the same time.

Change color anchor

Modifying a color anchor is very easy but there are two possibilities:

You click the number of the photo - illustration over there -: you can either:
- choose this photo as reference image;- adjust the gamma for that photo only (the contrast of the photo);
- adjust the exposure (black and white points thresholds);
- with in addition the possible correction of tonality (color) ;
- or the three corrections at the same time.
- Then you can decide to make these corrections on all the other photos than the reference ones at the same time! This way, you won't forget any of them...

You click the icon symbolizing the anchor just below the number of the photo - illustration over there - and you open a shorter menu with two big differences:
- It's not possible to choose this photo as a reference image anymore;
- The chosen adjustment will always be applied to all the photos other than the reference ones at the same time.

Two last remarks!

You need at least one reference image as you can imagine! However, you can as well choose several in order to keep a different chromaticism in two different places of the panorama, for instance, or even keep the original luminosity on two photos and make it so that the others relatively to these two photos.

Then, let's precise that all of this can almost be done in real time so it's easy to make trials or to step back...

Correct vignetting and/or gradient - New great feature 4.0!

Hallelujah! Autopano 4.0 finally enables to correct vignetting and as two good news is always better than one, Kolor also added an equally great functionality: the automatic correction of gradient. Let's take a closer look at this right now...

Who never faced a assembling as the one below?

Well here's the result with the new vignetting AND gradient correction functionality, which work hand in hand especially for a nice dusk shot:

My recommendation! The result is a lot more progressive and homogeneous even if it has its limits. Perfection addicts will also notice much cleaner files in the sky when they'll want to edit them. So posterizations are a lot more discreet or even disappeared. I'm telling you: this is genius... even if it's still not perfect all the time! Long story short, this new functionality doesn't mean you don't have to polish your photos at the shooting hence to work with a slightly closed diaphragm and in manual mode.

Open the exposure merging - HDR in Autopano Giga 4.4

When you've shot several photos from the same place but with different exposures in order to improve the dynamic of your photo - HDR technique - it's very easy to stitch them AND merge them together at the same time in Autopano. In version 3.6, it even becomes really easy because the new functionality Quick Preview allows to show the final result of this merging BEFORE making the final assembling. The amount of time saved is huge.

Exposure merging

The button "Exposure merging" of the menu bar opens a new tools palette in the left column.

When you display the pile of different exposures in the panorama editor for a given photo, be sure to launch the "Quick Preview" mode. Then click the "Activate" button then move the three target exposure cursors, the enhancement of clear and dark tones. You'll see, this is spectacular and efficient. We see almost everything we do in real time!

Here is how this part dedicated to panorama edition in Autopano Giga / Pro ends. We'll now make the final rendering in the next page. Render the panorama

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